Film Reviews by VW

The quality of this DVD is so poor that we couldn't watch it. Waiting for a cleaned up version to come along.

This is a decent looking print but the soundtrack is random classical music not matched in any way to the action. Watching a lighthearted scene of pirates up to their usual tricks backed by a string quartet playing a rather slow, mournful tune makes a mockery of the whole thing.

If you are hoping to find another Soviet masterpiece in the mould of Eisenstein then be warned this is a very different prospect. The Childhood of Maxim Gorky is a rather conventional and very dull biopic not dissimilar to Hollywood biopics of the same era. It has no visual flair and the performances are pretty flat. It is far too deferential to its source material.

The film probably has some historical interest in that (I presume) this is what happened to Soviet cinema when the avant-garde were suppressed. Avoid.

If you loved The Passion of Joan of Arc and Vampyr and are hoping this film will be just as good as them then you're in for a disappointment. If you're hoping for a silent gay love story then you'll be disappointed too. This is a pretty run of the mill silent movie with little flair or touches of Dreyer magic. The gay theme is pretty thin too. Yes there's a hint of something sexual between the patron and his protégé but blink and you'll miss it. If it hadn't had the Dreyer name attached this would never have been restored and re-released. I feel it's been somewhat oversold.

This is an atrocious quality print - like it's just been transferred from an ancient video copy. It's been chopped into 4:3. It's also dubbed into English. Avoid and wait for the Criterion edition to come out.

This film is virtually unwatchable in this print. The colour has deteriorated significantly and in the many night time scenes it is so poor that all you can see are shadows moving around in the sludge - you cannot make out what is going on. If you really want to watch this film seek out a better print.